The last time there was a brutal get out the vote fight amongst Presidential candidates, Democrats resorted to trickery, pulling out all stops in an effort to get their candidate elected – as evidenced on page 54 of the 2004 Colorado Election Manual:

“If no signs of intimidation techniques have emerged yet, launch a pre-emptive strike…“

And thus the pre-emptive strikes have already begun … in Colorado no less.

… it is troubling that we are hearing numerous reports of voting machines recording votes intended for Romney as votes for Obama.

Colorado’s KRDO NewsChannel 13 reports that the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is investigating after more than a dozen Pueblo voters say voting machines switched their pick from Mitt Romney to Barack Obama.

One Romney voter, told KRDO that when she hit the touchscreen for Romney, a check mark appeared next to Obama’s name. She said she asked for help to fix the problem, but still feels unsure about her vote:

And there, in a nutshell, is why ensuring the integrity of the voting process is so vital. There is no worse feeling than being unsure if your vote really counted.

The problems don’t end there, as another key state, Iowa, is providing some disturbing reports.

From the Des Moines Register:

“Muscatine resident Craig White says a Democratic campaign worker somehow gave his 75-year-old mother the impression that it was OK for her to sign his name on an absentee ballot request form when he wasn’t home…”

“Elsewhere, reports of unauthorized absentee ballot paperwork have led to an investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Floyd County Attorney Normand Klemesrud, a Democrat, said the DCI is checking into cases in his county in which someone allegedly filled out the request paperwork for an absentee ballot without the voter’s consent or knowledge…”

“The DCI has approached paid Democratic Party staff to ask questions about allegations of unauthorized requests for absentee ballots in Floyd County, a party official confirmed. Norm Sterzenbach, the party’s executive director, said a DCI agent spoke briefly to three workers at the Organizing for America office in Charles City. The party’s attorneys then contacted the agent “and said if you need to talk to … any of our employees, have those conversations with our attorneys,” Sterzenbach said…”

“It is concerning to hear of cases of unauthorized absentee ballot paperwork being turned in by the Democrats in Iowa,” RNC Communications Director in Iowa Tom Szold wrote in a statement to ABC News. “Integrity of elections are critical and a full investigation of these irregularities should be conducted.”

The RNC has responded by submitting a letter to Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz. It reads:

Dear Secretary Schultz,

On behalf of the Republican National Committee, I am writing to express concern with what appears to be illegal activity involving Democratic and Obama campaign operatives engaged in absentee ballot canvassing. We understand that the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations is investigating this matter. We request the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office do all it can to further that investigation and to ensure that any illegal activity conducted by Democratic operatives does not taint the fairness of the 2012 general election.

According to reputable media reports, Democratic operatives allegedly encouraged elderly persons to fill out and falsely sign absentee ballot requests for other family members.

Additionally, the same reports suggest that Democratic operatives themselves may have even falsely filled out and submitted absentee ballot requests without the permission of the Iowa voters on whose behalf the requests were submitted. As the Des Moines Register reported, “the [Department of Criminal Investigations] has approached paid Democratic Party staff to ask questions about allegations of unauthorized requests for absentee ballots in Floyd County . . . .” DCI agents have also spoken “to three workers at the Organizing for America office in Charles City.” The Iowa Democratic Party has now asked DCI to have conversations only with Democratic Party attorneys.

Fair and open elections are vital to our democracy. And the alleged conduct of Democratic and Obama operatives, if true, is highly disconcerting. Please keep us informed of the steps you are taking to ensure this alleged illegal activity does not affect the integrity of the election.

The integrity of the election needs to be preserved – on both sides of the aisle.

About the AuthorRusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is a freelance journalist focusing on the conservative movement and its political agenda. He has been writing conservatively charged articles for several years in the upstate New York area, and his writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record. He is also Editor of one of the top conservative blogs of 2012, the Mental Recession.